Fallen
by solsethegreat
Summary: Squall must face the fact that Rinoa has died, but it sends him on to a rough downward spiral. Quistis decides to help him deal, but will things develop between them? Is there something more behind Rinoa's mysterious death?
1. My Immortal

bFallen/b  
  
A/N/Disclaimer: This is not a one chapter songfic, so expect more to come. I do not own FF8 or Evanescence. I do however own this storyline. Enjoy!  
  
Chapter 1: My Immortal  
  
It was a gloomy day in Balamb. Rain pattered on for hours, dark clouds blanketing the sky. Lightning blinked like strobe lights as thunder roared not long behind. It was the perfect setting for his heart. Squalls heart.  
  
His heart was empty, his soul forgotten. She was gone.  
  
I'm so tired of being here  
  
Supressed by all my childish fears  
  
And if you have to leave  
  
I wish that you would just leave  
  
Cause your presence still lingers here  
  
And it won't leave me alone  
  
  
  
The funeral was something no less then spectacular, if that is a good word to describe a funeral. She would have loved it. So many people showed up, and her mother's song played in the background. Squall was surrounded by his friends, but he never felt so alone. Rinoa was dead, nothing could bring her back.  
  
Rinoa had been sick for weeks. Some cruel fate threw itself upon her, ridding the color from her cheeks and weakening her frail body. Every day she grew weaker and weaker. Dr. Kadowaki said it was like nothing she'd ever seen before, like her life was being drunk away by some unseen force.  
  
Squall sobbed as he stepped up to the casket. He welled his tears back, making sure not to show anyone that he was about to tear up. Holding a rose in his hand, he kissed it, and threw it on top of the marble box as it slowly descended to it's final restiing place.  
  
He turned and looked at his friends, who were all holding on to each other supportively, giving each other one last glimmer of hope. They looked at him with sincere eyes, hoping he would come to them and let them comfort him, but he just turned. And he walked...  
  
These wounds won't seem to heal  
  
This pain is just too real  
  
There's just too much that time can not erase  
  
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears  
  
When you screamed I'd fight away all of your fears  
  
And I held your hand through all of these years  
  
But you still have all of me...  
  
***  
  
A week passed. Squall still refused to let his wounds show, and because of this, he refused to show remorse.  
  
One of his duties as new headmaster was to teach a class. It was all relatively new to him, so Quistis sat in for the first few. He decided to teach Weapons Studies, the class where first year SeeDs chose a new weapon to handle and train with. Today, he would be teaching how to imbue the weapon with a magickal property.  
  
"The trick is to junction a spell while holding your weapon as if you are about to use it. This works because..." Squall looked around the room and waited for one of his students to answer. Disgusted when they did not, he continued.  
  
"...because then it will instead junction to your weapon, you ignorant cretins."  
  
Quistis raised an eyebrow at his mean spirit, but let him continue.  
  
"Would one of you be so kind as to demonstrate for the class?" Squall looked around the class, then his eyes achieved one center focus.  
  
"You." He said, pointing to Kimmie, a fifteen year old girl who had just been inducted into the SeeDs. With her wavy brown hair and cheerful attitude, she reminded him much of Selphie.  
  
"Raise your weapon and concentrate on the spell 'fire.' If it works, your weapon should emit a soft orange glow."  
  
Reluctantly, the girl rose, raising her rose colored staff in the air. She looked around the class once, then closed her eyes. Slowly, she mumbled the phrase 'Fire!' but instead of junctioning it, a hellish fireball shot out of her staff and hit Squall square in the chest, knocking the breath out of him.  
  
"You stupid bitch!" he yelled. This caused an uproar in the class. Quistis jumped out of her seat and told them all to take a five minute break. She and Squall had to talk.  
  
"What was that all about?" She stood in front of him, staring straight into his eyes. "That girl is only a first year. It was just an honest mistake."  
  
"Well, then she shouldn't be a SeeD then, should she? We fight wars, Quistis, not play dolls. I'm sorry that I expect a higher quality from our students, but if we had all made 'honest mistakes' like that, half of the nation would be dead by now."  
  
Quistis glared at him. "Squall, what is wrong with you? Sure, the Squall I knew was a hard ass, but he wasn't the smart mouthed son of a bitch that you are."  
  
After that, she walked out.  
  
You used to captivate me by your resonating mind  
  
Now I'm bound by the life you left behind  
  
Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams  
  
Your voice it chased away all the sanity in me...  
  
***  
  
Squall stood in the middle of the courtyard outside the dormitories, wearing a tank top and navy blue sweatpants with 'Balamb Garden' written across the right leg. Gunblade on the grass beside him, he slowly moved his arms as if he were in a battle, shadowboxing. It was half past midnight, no student would be out. Perfect for a way to work out his stress, vigorous training.  
  
"Wanna Spar?" A girls voice came from behind him. Squall turned to see the shorter blonde girl that he hadn't seen since their quarrel earlier. She stood leaning against a doorway, dropping her sportsbag to the ground. She wore a similar attire to him, only a sweatshirt to match her pants.  
  
"Sure Quistis, if you know what you're getting into." Squall said, going into a martial arts stance. Quistis smiled and took her place in front of him.  
  
"Don't forget that I was once your instructor, Squall." She said, taking stance as well. Without warning, she quickly spun and performed a jump kick at Squall, who ducked and caught her leg. Things were about to get ugly.  
  
'No remorse.' Squall thought to himself as he threw her across the grassy yard.  
  
When she hit the ground, she quickly recovered by flipping back up. Before long, she was back on him again, releasing a myriad of punches. He dodged, and her fist slammed into a vase behind him, shattering it to pieces. He swept at her feet and once again knocked her to the ground. He aimed a punch to her head, but before it connected, she rolled away, causing his fist to slam into the ground. She got up and ran to where the new stage was being built. She picked up a heavy metal pipe and swung it around, as if to intimidate her former student.  
  
"Ah, Squall, I know you're better than that." She smiled. Squall flipped and got his Gunblade. He jumped at her and swung viciously, connecting with the metal pipe with a loud clang. They both swung and blocked each other for a few minutes, and before long, Squall's Gunblade and Quistis' pipe were at the others throat. they both just stared at each other for a moment, sweating, until finally Quistis threw down the pipe and held out her hand.  
  
"Good match." She said. Squall withdrew and shook her hand. Then they both sat. Both were quiet for a long time until Squall finally said,  
  
"She's dead..." A tear rolled down the side of his face as he said it. "And I don't know why..."  
  
"Squall," Quistis looked at him. "Is that why? Why you've been so mean lately? You were afraid to cry?" She gave him a soft look.  
  
"You shouldn't be, we all understand..."  
  
"But you don't." Squall interrupted her. "You don't understand. Our love was forever. And now? Well, now she's gone."  
  
"I meant that we'd understand if you'd cried." She said. He just stared at her for a moment. And then he did.  
  
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone  
  
But though you're still with me  
  
I've been alone all along 


	2. The Product

Chapter 2  
  
Stanley Bradshaw heaved out his remaining breath as he attempted to lift a box off of the packing truck by himself. The things were heavy, what in the hell did they put in there? Whatever they put in there, he knew it was encased in glass, for the boxes said "Fragile" and made a loud clanking noise whenever you sat it down. His pale, brittle arms lifted the box maybe two inches before he stumbled. This can't be happening! He'd be fired for sure!  
  
But before he hit the ground, a large man in overalls and a pale brown hat caught him and the box. Thank god for inventing coworkers.  
  
"Woah there little man." He said, a chuckling smile creeping across his face. "Careful. I told you to wait for me."  
  
"I...I thought I could handle it, Mark." Stanley said, looking at the box, no firmly in Mark's grasp.  
  
"Wha....Whaddya s'pose it is anyway?"  
  
"Beats me." He then turned and looked around, then turned back. "Want to find out?"  
  
"Whaddya m-m-mean?" Stanley asked, unsure of Mark's next actions, wary of the trouble it may cause, but Mark just smiled back and popped the lid off.  
  
"Whoa..." He said, gaping in awe at the thousands of tiny vials filled with a white liquid that seemed to shimmer in the sunlight.  
  
"What is this?" Mark scratched his head as he inspected a glass vial closely. A hand quickly jutted down and grabbed it.  
  
"What do you think you are doing?" The man asked. It was the boss! Dante, quite possibly the richest man in Dollet, stood before them in a lavish purple suit, his gorgeous silver hair tied back in a ponytail.  
  
"Be careful or you'll harm the 'product'."  
  
Stanley and Mark just kind of looked at each other. Stanley, not being the stronger willed of the two, went on like he would return to work, but Mark stepped up to talk.  
  
"Sir, if you don't mind me askin', what exactly IS the 'product?'"   
  
"I pay you to move crates, not to ask questions." Dante looked him over shrewdly and continued. "Be more careful. I have a lot of money riding on what's in those crates."  
  
Afterwards, he turned to leave. After walking about five feet, he turned back around and smiled.  
  
"Anything happens to these boxes, and I will kill you." He said while putting on a black pair of sunglasses.   
  
"Have a nice day."  
  
Then he left, and they went back to work.  
  
***  
  
Squall layed back and relaxed in his chair. It had been a long day, a rather loooong day, and he barely had time to catch his breath. But before his day would be over, he had papers to grade and lessons to plan. He tried not to think about it.  
  
Before long, he started to doze off, getting the well deserved rest that he hadn't been getting lately. Everytime he closed his eyes, it seemed that SHE was there, but she was dead. Gone from the world, forever...  
  
"Knock, knock..." Quistis said, leaning against the door slightly.  
  
"Oh, hi Quistis." Squall said, still half asleep. "What's wrong?"  
  
"New job." She replied, holding up a stack of papers. She walked over and sat the papers on his desk directly in front of him.  
  
"Police reports. Seems several people have gone missing between here and Timber, and it also seems there are drugs involved. They want you to take one of the best SeeDs and go undercover, checking out some things in the underbelly of the drug world."  
  
"And we were given this wonderful little job why exactly?" Squall asked, rubbing his chin. Quistis just smiled.  
  
"Dangerous. Very dangerous. Seems none of the detectives will do it." Quistis seemed to be more driven by the danger. "So who's it gonna be?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"The SeeD. The one that goes with you." She said.  
  
"I think there is only one person here more qualified than me." He smiled. "So pack your bags. We'll get started in the morning." 


End file.
